As I sit here looking at $5000.00 in Audi repair bills I thought I should inform potential Audi owners of my experience with my 97 A4 and Audi in general. I realize many of you won't like this type of email as you take great pride in your purchase and in Audi. I was similarly blinded, but now see the light. Here is a partial list of problems that I've had with my car after 5 years of ownership:

Right rear wheel bearing
Left rear wheel bearing
Rear differential seal
Left Axle seal
Right Axle seal
Lower control arm
c Links
D links
Power window motor
ABS sensor
Fuel filter
There was another recall, but I can't remember what it was for.

The big ticket $ items from the list above have been the control arm/Clinks, bearings and believe it or not, the fuel filter.

Did you know that in the 97 A4 you need to lower the gas tank in order to replace the fuel filter? And did you know that Audi doesn't have the fuel filter on their list of scheduled maintenance items? They actually consider it a lifetime filter if you can imagine that. During the grand warranty period of free maintenance, they won't even look at the fuel filter - not that there is an easy way to do this. So basically, by following the Audi method of doing things, you run your car until the fuel filter clogs and then bring it to Audi for emergency repair only to find out it costs $800.00 to replace. How's that for quality German engineering and world-class customer satisfaction?

Did you know that the control arms in some Audi A4 cars were recalled due to obvious design and manufacturing flaws? I think it's great that Audi felt obligated to reach out to their loyal customers in order to save them the $1100.00 repair expense of a manufacturing/design defect. The problem is that they didn't include all years, and specifically excluded my model year even though it had the same flaw. This was an obvious cost cutting tactic on Audi's part and left me - one of the first owners of the A4 - to pay through the nose. It's nice to be rewarded by Audi after taking the risk and being an initial owner of one of their products. Bringing this to Audi of America's attention was a joke as they said my claim fell outside of their "parameters" for reimbursement but of course they couldn't tell me what those parameters were.

Did you know that many Audi A4 owners have wheel bearing problems? I've owned several American and Japanese cars over the years, and even with 200k miles on my Jeep Cherokee, have never had to replace wheel bearings (or control arms or $800 fuel filters). As a matter of fact, my Jeep has cost me approximately 50% less in repair bills over 8 years even though it was used only for city driving (my Audi was 90% hiway) and the Jeep has twice the mileage! Go figure!

Do yourself a favor and research these topics on this site. You will find that many people have the same problems with their cars and these are not small dollar items. Whatever you do, don't make the mistake of buying an Audi during years 1-3 of a new design. You will pay through the nose.

Of course Audi has a 5-year 50k mile warranty, so if you plan to own your car within these limits you have nothing to worry about (except a lot of wasted time at the shop). But if you plan to own your car for the long term be prepared to pay, pay, pay.

Now I know many will come to Audi's defense but try and read through the hype and look into the facts. Do you really want to fork over thousands of dollars to a company that does not stand behind their products and leaves their customers to pay for their poor design and policy choices? The bottom line is that Audi is not in the same luxury class as BMW or Mercedes? They just aren't.

John Di Donato

 

I had the 4 front lower control arms replaced way past the warranty period....Audi picked up the tab for the parts $1500 and I paid the labor $350...fair shake on that one! I also replaced the wheel bearings. Replaced the outside heated mirrors 4 times until I wired them to come on with the rear defroster switch. The car is picture perfect right now with no dents, dings, or scratches.....looks, runs, handles, like new!

Still I bought a 2002 A4......I think a lot of us owners here expect parts to fail because it's an Audi and it attracts the mechanically inclined back and back again for torture....we must like it or we wouldn't continue to buy them. I owned 5 Nissans - 3 Z-cars, 2 Maximas...nothing ever wore out or failed.....extremely boring in my camp!

 

I am sorry about your bad experience with Audi, but there are many, many of us who have put hundreds of thousands of miles on our Audis with few or no problems. I personally have owned four Audis and have never had any problems that I felt were unusual or unreasonable. I have never been stranded, and have had repairs done at AoA's expense as a goodwill gesture, even after the warranty had expired. Again, I am sorry but your car may have been the exception that proves the rule.

 

My next door neighbor has '96 E class Mercedes that he has spent $6,700($3,500 on the climate control module) on repairs in the last 10 months. The car has 80,000 miles but has been imaculately maintained at the Mercedes dealership since it was new. My other next door neighbor just had a $3,400 repair bill on their '99 Volvo(turbo, power seats, cv joint). A third neighbor recently bought a 2000 BMW 5 series with 33,000 miles on it. In the last 5,000 miles (4 months) it has been in the shop 6 times for little problems that have cost him about $1,800 out of pocket. A fourth neighbor has a 2000 A6 2.7T that has only been in the shop for the 10k and 20k scheduled maintainence.
My point is not that Audi's are going to be the cheapest cars to own; they're not. But neither is BMW, Mercedes, or any other European brand. If you think that buying a different German car will insulate you from future repairs, you're dead wrong. If you want the car with the cheapest ownership cost, go buy an Accord or Camry.

 

I'll vouch for that. I have a Camry (95 V6 wagon 80,000KM - still going strong) and had an Accord (1988 LXi 350,000KM - donated to a good cause). Just filled in gas and did regular oil changes other than the timing belt changes every 100,000KM and regular wear and tear (brakes, tires), there were no other costs. The clutch on the Accord went 250,000KM but that was it.

Last year, I picked up a used 97 A4. Other than having the control arms changed under Audi assured and the igintion switch change under Audi recall, there were no other problems. The car has 81,000KM and will need new front brakes and a timing belt change some time this year, I'll admit that the prices are higher for the repairs especially the timing belt change. So instead of putting in the money for repairs, I'll get a 2002 and not have to worry about things for the next 4 years:-)

The Accord and Camry are good cars but they are now where close to the ride and feel of the A4.

 

we all appear to accept higher running costs because our European cars have "soul" and so on. i can't imagine ANYBODY giving their Japanese car a name, for example. i have had a huge amount of expensive repair work done on my C-Class - there are a lot of unhappy people discussing this on benz-related web pages, echooing the other comments in this thread. so, WHY can't Audi or MB copy Japanese standards for basic "reliability" issues - even if we ended up one generation behind, we would be ahead of where we are now.

 

While I can sympathize with your neighbors, it certainly doesn't make me feel better that they are spending thousands of $ on repairs. It's hard for me to understand if their problems are caused by incompetent mechanics or other factors beyond the manufacturer's control. And while I didn't enter the Audi market with the unrealistic expectation that it would be the cheapest car to maintain, I did have the unrealistic expectation that the car would be designed in a competent manner and supported by a company that stood by their products.

My problem isn't just the money; it's the way the car was designed and the company's policy to pass unrealistic costs to the user. The fuel filter is the prefect example. It's placed in a location that requires the fuel tank to be dropped for access. It's the policy that Audi took of not including the fuel filter in the standard maintenance which means that for 5 years/50k miles they never checked it. It's the policy of declaring that the fuel filter is a "lifetime" part when it's obvious that this is not in the customer's best interest. Everyone (including Audi) knows that fuel filters clog, and when they do, the car stop running. Some might even argue that if the car stops running on the freeway, it's a safety hazard.

Another example is the company's policy to exclude early model years from a recall for the control arms when it's clearly documented in the user community that these problems existed on the early model year A4 cars. Again, not in the customer's best interest and a penalty for those who wanted to be the first to own the new A4.

To be clear, spending money on cars is inevitable, as mechanical products eventually fail. The real question is why they fail, how they fail, what the manufacturer could have anticipated, and what they did to spare their customers the frustration in dealing with these issues. In my mind, Audi has failed miserably to do what is right in this regard.

 

While I am sure there are satisfied Audi owners out there, there are also many who are not satisfied so I don't feel like the exception at all. As I mentioned in my post, just search on the A4 problems that I've outlined and you will see that there are many people in my same situation. I am definately not alone.

 

not to nitpick your comments (I agree with your viewpoint that the fuel filter is not a lifetime product), but when the fuel filter needed to be changed (as a 60,000 mile maintenance) on 2 of my previous cars, the fuel tank needed to be dropped to access the filter.

 

The 02 A4 fuel filter can be replaced WITHOUT dropping the fuel tank. Nice change.